


I need another story, somethin' to get off my chest

by cutebutpsyco



Series: Ironstrange Bingo 2019 Fills [15]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gossip, How Do I Tag, Humor, IronStrange Bingo 2019, M/M, asking for a date, where Tony goes gossip follows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 20:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18453794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutebutpsyco/pseuds/cutebutpsyco
Summary: IRONSTRANGE BINGO. FILL: FAKE DATING ||“I knew you would have fallen for me, eventually,” Strange answered, helping him through the portal, and Tony could see why everyone else in the Compound seemed so sure that Strange was just like him. It was a lie, even a poor one for people who had known the Sorcerer for more than a couple of minutes, but Stark couldn’t deny that there was a certain kind of similarity between the two of them.





	I need another story, somethin' to get off my chest

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank fluffypanda on Discord for the idea behind this fic.  
> Then I'm sort of back to the regular daily posting, but in the following days, you'll probably have more than one fic because I have to catch up with the fics I haven't posted. Sorry, but life had been a bitch recently. 
> 
> As always, nothing belongs to me, title from Secrets by One Republic. Not-betad.

Tony couldn’t tell with certainty what was happening. A moment he was flying toward the giant alien that appeared in the middle of the of New York and the moment later he was spiralling down, toward the asphalt and his repulsors didn’t respond to his commands, Friday who was keeping going on and off-line in his HUB. 

He hit the ground, hard. And there was no friendly green raged monster to catch him, this time. There was nothing but the cold metal of his suit and the air that was rapidly leaving his lungs because of the fall. His comm went off at some point of the falling, probably, because he could hear nothing but static coming from it. 

“Come on,” He said, and he didn’t even know if he was speaking with himself or with the AI that was flashing his vitals in front of his eyes in a very shakingly way. He didn’t think he broke something, but he wasn’t sure and from where he was lying on the floor, completely useless, he couldn’t even see how the fight was proceeding. And, then, he heard the most inhuman and painful scream that had ever reached his ears and the looming shadow of the alien was gone. 

He tried to move, succeeding in bringing his body in a more standing position and then a figure was by his side: tall and lean, their shadow dark against the bright light of the sun. The person stretched out their hand so that Tony could reach for it and the only sight of bright, hideous, dark yellow gloves was enough for him to understand who they were. 

He took Strange’s hand trying not to hurt it with the gauntlet of his suit and let the other man help him stand, taking off a moment later the helmet which was starting to suffocate him. 

“You okay?” Strange asked him, with the smallest and most tired smile Tony had ever seen. He nodded because he wasn’t sure he would have sound credible if he had spoken and a moment later an arm was around his back, helping him stand. “You don’t look okay.”

“I know,” Tony couldn’t help but reply. “I don’t look just okay, I look amazing, handsome and breathtaking.”

“If you are trying to give your best interpretation of a ghost, maybe,” Stephen retorted. “Let’s go, I’m sure you don’t want you fans to you fainting in the middle of the battlefield.”

And yes, maybe Ton didn’t even notice civilians with their phones out, hoping to take some good shoot of the Avengers in action, but he was used to that kind of fame so he didn’t mind any more. He nodded, anyway, without pushing the wizard back and letting the man help him to walk toward a portal someone opened for Stark’s teammates. And then, he didn’t really know how it happened, but his feet didn’t answer to his command and hit something in the middle of the street. 

What he did not expect for, though, was being caught mid-air before he could fall against the ground again. He could feel Stephen’s arm still around his back and, now, the other one was on his other side. The wizard moved so that he was holding Tony’s body and they were face to face, preventing him to fall completely. 

“I got you,” He said, smirking while shifting his weight back so that Tony’s feet were steady on the ground again. And Tony had no idea how, but, while falling, his arm wrapped around Stephen’s neck, using it to balance himself. 

“Yeah,” Tony answered, not sure where to look. His relationship with Strange was weird at best. He knew he was the one, between the Avengers and but for Peter, who knew the most about the Sorcerer and liked to think they were friends - considering that Strange refused to be his awesome facial hair bros in the first place - but they had never been really, really close, it didn’t matter how much Tony wished they could. Strange was hard to read, at best, and there was something in him that reminded Tony of Nat. Cold, distant, they never let anyone in because they knew it couldn’t end well, with a completely different and fascinating world hidden behind for everyone who took time to scratch the surface. And Tony felt like he could see a glimpse of that world in Stephen’s eyes. The same eyes he was staring at that moment, his arm still around the other man’s neck. “Thank you.” 

“I knew you would have fallen for me, eventually,” Strange answered, helping him through the portal, and Tony could see why everyone else in the Compound seemed so sure that Strange was just like him. It was a lie, even a poor one for people who had known the Sorcerer for more than a couple of minutes, but Stark couldn’t deny that there was a certain kind of similarity between the two of them. 

\--

Tony was sure neither of them thought about what happened that day, and honestly, it wasn’t like something happened at all. He tripped on his feet out of exhaustion, Strange caught him and, from Friday’s records, he spent a couple of minutes simply staring at the man’s features. Not that someone could blame him: Stephen was an attractive man and if his past with Bruce had something to prove, Tony wasn’t certain the kind of man who had problems in sleeping with other men. He quite liked it, and, as far as he hated labels, the only thing that had stopped him in going public with that was SI Press Departement. 

He wouldn’t give a fuck about others’ opinion, usually, but he knew too well that the last line of easily accessible medical prosthetic needed good press if he wanted to keep it as cheap as possible. And while he hated the medieval state of mind of some of the person in his field, he cared more about people in need. It wasn’t like not going public was stopping him to date anyone he wanted to. 

What was stopping him were two different factors: a) he wasn’t anywhere near to the state of mind of starting a new relationship and b) Strange was attractive, and smart, and funny, but Tony had no clue about who he was attracted and they were barely friends, he didn’t want to make it weird.

So, yes, he just spent a lot of time staring at him. And, if the notes of the speech he was writing were something to go with, also doodling his face. Or something that vaguely reminded the Sorcerer’s face, anyway. He wasn’t as good in drawing people as he was with schematics, apparently. Again, not that someone had to know. They were friends and that was what mattered. 

Which was the reason why, after yet another meeting with Ross - again, Tony still didn’t know how he became the UN liaison with Kamar-Taj, even if he suspected that the reason was his closeness to Strange - Tony waited for the Secretary to be out of hearing reach and then asked Stephen if he wanted to eat something in a very nice Italian place he knew. He was just mildly surprised when the other man accepted. 

Usually, the Sorcerer refused any kind of proposal for social gathering, especially when the Avengers were involved, at the point that Tony decided that he must hate them all, despite the fact that he seemed to be completely fine with Bruce. Or he swore off any kind of mundane activity when he applied for Hogwarts. Either way, Tony was happy that the other man said yes.

What he wasn't waiting for, though, was waking up the next day to a text message from the Wizard himself who summoned him to the Sanctum. Despite their growing friendship, it was rare for Tony to go in Bleecker Street and the few times it happened it was because there was an emergency or because some threat from a different dimension was more technological than magical. (And, maybe, a couple of time he had been there to pick up a certain friendly Spider-Man who happened to be hurt during an illegal patrol. Tony really appreciated how Strange helped him but didn’t want to tell Tony too many details. He treated the kid as an adult and not as a baby and Tony appreciated that a lot.) 

Which was why, the moment he walked into the main hall of the Sanctum, he was ready to tap on the Arc Reactor. The last thing he expected to be greeted with, though, was Stephen holding a bunch of periodicals and magazines. Tony rose an eyebrow, trying to understand what upset Strange so much and then he walked closer when the other man motioned for him to look at the first pages of a couple of them. 

“Christine called my attention on those,” He explained, and there was an adorable shade of purple which was currently colouring his cheeks. Tony had a certain reputation in finishing on those and he couldn’t really think about something he had done that let him slip in that kind of spotlight, recently. So, maybe, Stephen was ashamed of something he did and wanted Stark’s professional opinion. What he didn’t expect, though, was to see what he saw once one of the magazines had been pushed in his hands. 

Tony was looking at the front page of it, his eyes taken by the title. _“BIron Man?”_ It stated and all the man had to do was to look at the picture under it to understand.  
It was a photo someone should have snapped the day of the battle, and he hadn’t even realized how it seemed from the outside, with one of Stephen’s hand on his back and the other on his hip. His own arm around the wizard’s neck and the glance in his eyes were unequivocal. He made a fool of himself, and now Stephen wanted to confront him on that expression of absolute awe that crossed his face.

“What am I looking at?” He asked, even if it was even too clear. He had never been to shut up and do not state the obvious. Stephen didn’t seem utterly upset by whatever he was trying to show him, and Tony decided that he didn’t want to test his luck any longer and that it was better to wait for the wizard’s answer. 

“Apparently, we had been dating since that day,” He answered, and there was a weird little smile on his lips. “Just wanted to let you know in case some journalist asked.” 

Strange looked like he was going to add something more, but he didn’t and Tony maybe snapped a picture of the photo with his glasses. He opened the magazine, looking immediately at the pages in which the main article probably was. The article was interrupted every now and then by a new picture.  
Most of those were from official events with the Avengers, others from their personal meetings with Ross, and there were also others from a couple of dinners they went to. 

“Well, I’ll tell them we are cute,” He said, and, again, Stephen blushed. Ok, maybe Stephen was the cute one and Tony was just blinded by his pretty smile, it didn’t really matter. Tony was way far too gone for Stephen. 

“Yeah, we are,” Stephen said, taking a moment later another magazine from the table, there where Christine left it. He was totally chewing his lip and Tony couldn’t help but look at him, unable to draw his eyes away from the other man’s face. “We should do it for real.”

And, at that, Tony felt his jaw dropping. And tried to catch up some of his famous Stark’s charm. He ran a hand in his hair, looking at the Sorcerer. “What?” He asked, surprised. 

“A date, I mean,” He explained. “Like, if you want to. If I misread something I…”

“Shut up! Don’t you there to finish that sentence,” Tony stopped him, pointing at him with his finger. “Probably everyone thinks we are dating ‘cause everything I do ends up online so, what will this be? Our third date? You know what does this mean, right?”

He said, wiggling his eyebrows. And, at that, Stephen let out the brightest laugh Tony had ever heard. His entire face lighted up and it seemed like the room itself was shining in its reflection. “I think our third date was the one after the fight against that disgusting alien.”

“You passed out on the couch, that doesn’t count!” Tony laughed. And he felt like an idiot. He was afraid that asking Stephen out meant that something would have changed between them, but apparently, nothing did for the Wizard and Stark just hoped everything stayed the same.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are the air I breathe and the reason why I write, so make ur girl happy.
> 
> **wanna say 'hi'? do you have a prompt for me?** find me on [tumblr](https://ironstrange-is-the-endgame.tumblr.com/).  
> find my entire ironstrange bingo card on [dreamwidth](https://myrcellabaratheon.dreamwidth.org/3827.html) and [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/posts/511160).


End file.
